Refrigerated case



May 16', 1944. F. c. LOWELL REFRIGERATED CASE Filed Feb. 5, 1942 2 F1 g. E

' INVENTOR. FLOYD C.LOl4/ELL. BY M ATTORNEY Patented May 16, 1944 u mpany; Inc., Trenton, N. :.Lrareorporation otNew Jersey l v Application Febmsrys, 1942,

s claims. (cl. isz-sas) My invention relates to refrigerated display cases having va Vstorage chamberand adisplay chamberthrough which air is circulated, and particularly to constructions whereinV the air within eachchamber is circulated in such a manner as to insure the preservation of the desired storage conditions in each chamber.

It is well known that conditions which are best suited for the storage of meats and other products for long periods of time diierirom those which are best yfor use in display chambers that are opened frequently for the removal of meats or the products on display and in which the prod'- ucts are generally kept for only a relatively short period of time. In order to maintain the desired conditions in each chamber of a oase having both storage and display chambers it has been -suggested heretofore that a supplemental cooling coil be located in the storage chamber so as to maintain the storage chamber at a lower temperature than the ldisplay chamber. However, when airis positively c irculated'through a case the effectiveness ofsucha supplemental cooling coil is reduced. Moreover, it is recognized .that dehydration of meats and many other f oods is dependent not only on the temperature and huanother object of my invention is to provide a refrigerated case having-display and storage chambers therein wand designed .for use with products lwhich are adversely ,afiected by dehydration thereof. and toprovide such a case with novel means formaintaining the desired conditions in each of ,saidchambers A further object of my invention istovprovide novel methods vof `air circulation Iand distribution within a refrigerated case lhaving ldisplay and storage chambers therein.

a particular object of my invention is to 'provide` a refrigerated casehaving storage and dis- 'play chambers therein withmeans for circulating a portion of the cooled air in one 'path' through d the storage chamberaridvv for'circulating all of the cooled air through' the display chamber.

These and other objects and features of my invention will appear from' the lfollowing description"thereof vinwhich.reference is made to the d figures 'of the'accompanying drawing. Y

midity of the air, circulated but is also ailected by the rate of ow of air through the chambers and over the products therein. .o i n o In accordance with the present invention the desired storage conditions and the desired display conditions are maintained by'circulating airhaving substantially the sametemperature and humidity through both chambers but at dierent velocities. f I i l :In thej construction illustrated and described inmy copending application, SerialNo. 378,503, ledfFebruai-y l2. 1941;this result-is attained, but since the case therel shown is designed primarily for use `with" dairy productsV whichj are substantially unaffected by dehydration, the ad-` In thed'rawmgr; Fig. l isa vertical setinal View;` through one preferredyform of'storage and display case embodying my .'invenion.''` t g' Fig'\.'"2' ak vertical sectional view of the construction illustrate'din'Fig.' 1 taken on fthe line `'ifi. thereof ."'and' Q Fig. 3y is avertical sectionall viewsimilarto Fig, 1 illustrating an alternative embodimentjoi my invention. l i j f In the` illustrative form oi my invention'sh'ow'n in Flgsql'ad'2 of the drawing.`.a refrigerated caseis provided with a -lower storage chamberl having a door fat therear thereoffto provide accessvto the'storagechalnbe'rl` An upper display' chamber s ispovided with resistors sffpr. prdvantages inherent in controlled air velocities are not emphasized. Theconstruction-shown and described inA this 'application' is designed primarily for use with meats; vegetables "and 'other iprcducts, wmchlare' adversely affected by dehydration'and i "my 'imitatie ,msm ,n

viding access tothe displayj'chamber. Perlblfate article supporting means 'J9' 'suchf 'as slats ,''r 'anl aperture@ plate zittendfrom] the'. flrmit" to? the fear' grita-e 'casggbgtweg the storage iandgdispiay chambers and I 'arranged in ggg.di-tiny` han; zoontal direction, vthat air'jintrodiicedintoth storageifchamber may iflow pward'zjthrogh 5115"?4115@ S551 ft Y l I I v n 4 'l the refrigerating coil i2 by means oi' defiecting plates 24.

The lower end of the housing I8 is open to permit air to ilow therefrom into the air inlet duct 2B formed by the baille 28 which is spaced from the coil housing I8. The upper edge of the baille 28 is located below the article. supporting means and cooperates therewith to form a rearwardly facing air inlet 30 adjacent and below the article supporting means. The duct 26 thus serves to direct air cooled by the coil upward into the upper portion of the storage chamber and rearwardly beneath the article supporting means i and horizontally across theupper portion of the storage chamber 2.' A portion of the air directed upward and rearwardly in the storage chamber passes through the openings in the article supporting means directly into the display chamber 6 as indicated by thearrows 32 whereas another portion of the air is deected by the article supporting means sol as to be directed downward into the lower portion of the storage'chamber as indicated by the `arrows 34. The air which circulates through the storage chamber, as indicated by the arrows 34 is in the nature of an eddy current and returns to mingle with the aix` flowing across the upper portion of the storage chamber and eventually passes upward through the article supporting means into the display chamber.

- The display chamber is provided with an air return duct 36 which preferably is located adjacent the top of the display chamber and extends the full length thereof. The air return duct extends downward at 38 adjacent one end wall of the case and communicates with the blower 22 through theconduit 40. v

With this construction. air drawn from the upper portion of the display chamber is Passed to the blower 22 by which it is forced through the plenum chamber and distributed uniformly over the refrlgerating coil l2. The downward ow of air over the coil I2 aidsin driving moisture downward over the uns of the coll during the o-cycle of operation and prevents clogging of the spaces between the ns I6. 'Ihe freezing of drops of moisture on the coil and fins is thus avoided andthe operation of the device rendered 'I'he cooled air passingfrom the coil housing flows upward' through the air inlet duct 26 and is directed upward and rearwardly so that a Dorf tion only of the cooled air circulates downward in an eddy current into the lower portion of the storage chamber and returns toV mingle with the air owingupward through the display chamber to the air return duct 36. v

Because only'a portion of the cooled air is circulated about the articlesstored in the storage chamber the volume of the air and the velocity of its now is relatively low.' Dehydration of the articles in' the storage chamber therefore does not occur.y However, all of the air passed to the refrlgerating coil 22'and cooled by the coil is caused to circulate upward through the display chamber and the velocity of ow of .air in the display chamber is therefore relatively higher than the'velocity of thel air circulating through articles on display therein in a bright, attractive t condition. While in some instances the foods on display may undergo a certain amount of dehydration due to the higher air velocity in the display chamber the displayed products are not kept in the display chamber long enough to aiiect the condition thereof adversely. 1

By so controlling the velocity of flowof air in the case it is possible to preserve the desired and optimum storage conditions in both the storage chamber and the display chamber while the temperature and humidity of the air in both chambers is substantially the same. Control of the operation of the refrigerating elements is greatly simplified with this construction and the operating load on the refrigerating unit isimaintained very low.

In that form of my invention shown in Fig. 3, the construction and arrangement of the elements is generally similar to that described above. However, the lower jedge 42 of the baille member 44 which serves to direct air upward toward the article supporting means 48 is spaced a short disi tance from the bottom of the storage chamber so that a small amount of air passes beneath 'the baille member into the lower portion of the storage chamber 48. The position of the lower edge of the baille 44 may be varied in each installation to control the flow of air about the articles in the storage chamber but generally the space between the edge 42 and the bottom 50 of the storage space is relatively small.

The construction shown in Fig. 3. -like that shown in Figs. l and 2. serves to cause a portion the lower portionof the storage chamber. TheI greatei-,volume of and the higher velocity of flow thereof withinthe displayrchamber serves to oset..\the cold flosses in the display chamber v due tothe frequent opening of the doors'l for only of the air cooled by the refrigerating coil l2 to circulate through the lower portion of the storage chamber and about the articles stored` therein. However, all of the air cooled by the refrigeratingf coil is caused to flow upward through the display lchamber tothe return sir duct `54 so that the desired and different rates of ow of air are maintained in the storage and display chambers. In this way the most effective storage conditions are preserved in the storage I chamber to prevent dehydration of foods therein, whereasvthe conditions preserved in the display chamber serve to onset the cold losses due to.

frequent opening of the doors communicating with thev display chamber and also serve to maintain the articles on display in a bright, attractive condition. A

While I have show n and described two alternative constructions embodying my inventionlit will be apparent that the form, arrangement' and manner of voperating and controlling refrigerated cases in accordance with my invention may be varied considerably without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as dened by the following claims.

I claim: 4

l. .A refrigerated display case having a lower storage` chamber, an upper display chamber, article supporting means extending in a generally horizontal direction between the storage and display chambers and provided with openings for the v circulation of air upward from the storage chamber to the display chamber, a downwardly opening housing in the storage chamber forming a refrigerating chamber, downwardly through the refrigerating chamber a refrlgerating coil located in said refrigerating chamber. a blower' for directing air over said ,coil and downwardly through the refrlgerating chamber, a baille politioned adjacent said housing and having the upper edge thereof located below said article supporting means so as to form a rearwardly directed outlet through which air cooled by said coil may be passed throughthe case adjacent said article supporting means, and an air return coil located in the storage chamber adjacent av wall thereof and below the article supporting means, a downwardly openinghousing for said coil, a blower for forcing air through the housing, an air return duct communicating with theupper portion of the display chamber and leading to the blower for conducting air to the blower, and bane means extending upward from the lower to the upper portion of the storage chamber adjacent said housing and terminating' below said article supporting means whereby air cooled by said coil is caused to ow over the upper edge of the bae and is directed generally horizontally through the upper portion of the storage chamber beneath the article supporting means and passes through the openings in the article supportingt means to the display chamber and to said air return duct.

3. A refrigerated display case ,having an upper display chamber and a lower storage chamber, article supporting means arranged generally horizontally in said case and separating the display chamber from the storage chamber, said means having openings therein through which air may pass from one of said chambers to the other, a cooling coil located in the lower storage chamber adjacent 'a wall thereof and beneath said .article supporting means, a downwardly op housing for said coil, means forming an air passage extending from a point near the bottom of said housing to a point located beneath said article supporting means and arranged to direct air which has. been cooled by passage over said coil in a generally horizontal direction beneath said article supporting means and across the upper portion. of the storage chamber, and means for drawing air cooled by said coil upward from the storage chamber through said article supporting means and into the display chamber, said means serving to return said air to the housing forthe cooling coil.

4. In a refrigerated display case having an upper display chamber and a lower storage chamber, article supporting means located between said chambers and provided with spaced air channels through which air may pass from the Q storage chamber to the display chamber, a refrigerate'd coil located in said storage chamber, a partition in said storage chamber separating the coil from the storage space therein, the upper edge of said partition being located below said article supporting means whereby an air channel is formed having the outlet therefrom located between the upper edge of said partition and the lower surface of said larticle supporting means for directing air substantially horizontally across the upper portionof the storage chamber, a`

blower for directing air over said coil and through the air channel, and a duct having the intake end thereof located in said display chamber for withdrawing air from the display chamber and returning said air to said blower for recirculation over said coil.

5. A refrigerated display case having a lower storage chamber, an upper display chamber, article supporting means extending in a generally horizontal direction between the storage and display chambers and provided with openings for the circulation of air upward from the storage chamber to the display chamber, a baiiie located in the front of the storage chamber and cooperating therewith to torm a. refrigerating chamber, said baie having the lower edge there- 'of spaced from the bottom of the storage chamber and the upper edge thereof located below vsaid article supporting means whereby two rearwardly directed outlets from the refrigerating chamber are provided, a refrigerating coil located in said refrigerating chamber. ablower communicating with said refrigerating,` chamber, means for directing air from the blower downwardly over said coil and means for conducting air from the display chamber to said blower.

6. AA refrigerated display case having a lower storage chamber, an upper display chamber, article supporting means extending in a generally horizontal direction between the storage and display chambers and provided with openings for .the circulation of--air upward from the storage chamber to the display chamber, a baille located in the,front of the storage chamber and cooperating therewith to form a refrigerating chamber, said baiile having the lower edge thereof spaced a relatively short distance from the bottom of the storage chamber and the upper edge thereof located a greater distance from the article YJsupporting means whereby a narrow lower outlet and a wider upper outlet are provided for directing air rearwardly from the refrigerating chamber to the storage chamber, a refrigerating coil located in said refrigerating chamber, a blower communicating with said refrigerating chamber for blowing air over said coil, and means -for conducting air from the display chamber to said blower. A

4FLOYD C. LOWELL. 

